We can use the next four years to advance Catholic education and secure it for decades.

Our Lord promises that the “gates of hell shall not prevail” against the Church. With these words, Jesus not only reassures us that He will never abandon his Church to evil, but He also extolls us to go on offense for the Kingdom of God. Saint Paul later calls on Christians to do the same thing. “Do not be conquered by evil,” he writes, “but conquer evil with good.”

In the wake of Donald Trump’s recent victory, the Church in America needs to be reminded of these words, and it would do well to heed them. This is especially true in the realm of Catholic education. For too long Catholic education in the United States has been stuck in a defensive posture, timidly defending its most basic rights while slowly secularizing and giving ground to radical progressives. This diffident approach has produced poor results and only invited further aggressiveness from the enemies of the Church.

In the past four years, Democrats in Washington have pushed far beyond the Obama-era policies of demanding contraception coverage in Catholic healthcare plans and mandating that Catholic schools open their bathrooms and locker rooms to students of the opposite sex. Most notably, the Equality Act that progressives attempted to pass would have effectively ended Catholic education as we know it. By making it illegal to discriminate because of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity,” the Equality Act would have allowed gay or transgender employees and students to sue Catholic institutions simply for standing by Catholic teaching, thus forcing many schools to abandon their faith or close their doors.

The fight for the religious freedom to provide truly Catholic education, hire faithful teachers and staff, and reject immoral practices like abortion and bodily mutilation is also ongoing in the states and the private sector. In Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan, for example — where the Equality Act is the law of the land — Catholic schools like St. Joesph’s outside Lansing and Sacred Heart of Jesus outside Grand Rapids are fighting for their lives in the courts.

Meanwhile, progressive activists are convincing more and more big corporations and athletic associations to put pressure on Catholic schools that refuse to comply with the latest pro-abortion, LGBT, or DEI policies. In 2020, for example, the Human Rights Campaign lobbied hard for Biden’s Department of Education to “tighten” its accreditation policies and encourage agencies to refuse accreditation to any Catholic schools that didn’t enforce “nondiscrimination policies” or meet “scientific curriculum requirements.”

Though the political and legal threats are great, they are not insurmountable. Indeed, despite them, there are good reasons to be hopeful. Since 2022, for example, ten states have passed universal education choice initiatives, which allow parents to use their children’s taxpayer-funded education dollars for the school of their choice, or even help cover certain homeschool expenses. These laws, in turn, have been a boon to Catholic schools, especially the burgeoning Catholic classical school movement. Since 2019, more than 264 new classical schools have been founded, and existing ones saw enrollments surge. And the momentum for classical education is only growing. According to some estimates, the classical school enrollment of 677,500 students this year is expected to more than double to 1.4 million by 2035.

Under these circumstances, Donald Trump’s recent victory offers not only a respite from the federal government’s total onslaught on Catholic education, but also a unique opportunity to advance our cause and secure the future of Catholic education for generations to come.

What does this look like in practice? For starters, it means dismantling the Department of Education, as President Trump has promised. Next, the incoming administration should seek to expand school choice with as little regulation as possible, get rid of common core standards as well as other career- and college-focused standards, and restore the original meaning of Title IX. Finally, the president-elect could take action to deregulate teacher preparation and de-link school accreditation and student aid from Title IX policies. The Cardinal Newman Society has helpfully provided details on how President Trump can make many of these changes and offered several more specific actions that the incoming administration can take to protect Catholic education.

But it’s not just the White House that needs to seize this opportunity. Catholic educators across the country should use the next four years to aggressively expand their operations, deepen their commitment to Catholic teaching, and fortify themselves against future attacks. Indeed, we should use every moral means at our disposal — from lobbying to lawfare — to push back against the radical Left.

In this fight, The Heritage Foundation stands ready to support you. As a proud partner of The Cardinal Newman Society, we provide essential guidance to Catholic schools on how to protect their religious freedom and confront contemporary challenges without shying away from their beliefs. We also have extensive resources for Catholic teachers and administrators, from a curriculum library to school models. And for all parents and students, we offer data-driven college recommendations so you can choose a school with confidence.

In conclusion, we must remember that our religious freedom doesn’t come free. God invites us to join Him in His suffering, but also in His triumphant victory. When we refuse to take an active role in securing our freedom, we are effectively rejecting that invitation.

The next four years are critical for securing the future of Catholic education in the United States for the next 40 years. Despite facing more serious attacks than ever before, with Donald Trump’s victory we have a unique opportunity to go on offense. Now is the time for action. In the words of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: “When so rich a harvest is before us, why do we not gather it? All is in our hands if we will but use it.”

Kevin Roberts, Ph.D., is president of The Heritage Foundation, which formulates and promotes public policies based on traditional principles. He founded and led John Paul the Great Academy, a co-ed, K-12 Catholic liberal arts school in Lafayette, La., for seven years, and he was president of Wyoming Catholic College, a Newman Guide Recommended institution, from 2013-2016.

Since the start of the Obama administration in 2009, Catholic education in the United States has been under serious threat from federal policies, regulations, legislation, and court rulings challenging Catholic morals and religious freedom. The threats will continue, but there is reason for hope in the coming years!

Without sanction by Congress or the Supreme Court, the Biden administration sought by dictatorial mandate to redefine the meaning of “sex discrimination” in education. To force a new definition of “sex” on schools and colleges, and especially to bully Catholic educators into compliance, was clearly beyond the Administration’s proper scope of authority.

Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued important rulings increasing protection for Catholic education. Our Lady of Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru (2020) broadens the definition of the “ministerial exception,” a First Amendment protection against federal courts interfering in religious organizations’ employment decisions. The case concerned a Catholic school teacher, but the exception has since been applied to school leaders and counselors.

In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020), the Court effectively nullified anti-Catholic “Blaine amendments” in state constitutions, ensuring that Catholic schools and colleges have equal access to public benefits. This helped open the door wider to school choice programs, which are increasing in many states.

Nevertheless, challenges remain. Some federal courts have ignored or undermined Supreme Court precedent, and the scope of the “ministerial exception”—which protects religious schools and colleges from lawsuits concerning employees engaged in religious teaching—is still hotly debated in the courts. Many states are hostile to Catholic moral values, and Catholic education faces the same sort of harassment that marked the Biden administration.

Amid all of this, there is good reason to hope that the next few years will present new opportunities for the growth of faithful Newman Guide education. Catholic families and educators look to the White House, Congress, and federal courts to provide much-needed relief for Catholic education and to restore a firm commitment to the First Amendment’s protections for religious exercise and free speech.

Recommendations for federal policy

Prior to President Donald Trump’s inauguration, The Cardinal Newman Society submitted a list of 42 policy priorities for Catholic education to his transition team, key members of Congress, and Washington, D.C., policy experts. The full proposal is posted on our website, but most of it is summarized in the following 10 key priorities:

1.  Restore the meaning of “sex”: The radical drive for same-sex marriage and then gender ideology has severely distorted federal civil rights laws and put women and Catholic education in jeopardy. This needs to be reversed.

Tragically, the U.S. Supreme Court yielded to gender ideology in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (2020). However, although the Court redefined “sex discrimination” to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” the ruling applied only to hiring and firing decisions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law contains an exemption for religious employers that can protect Catholic education, as long as school and college leaders make employment decisions with explicit devotion to Catholic teaching and evangelization.

The Biden administration and some federal courts have sought instead to expand Bostock’s flawed rationale to all federal law and programs. They have tried to mandate gender ideology in education, housing, public accommodations, federally funded programs, and disability laws. (See sidebar.) In so doing, they would effectively erase religious exemptions protecting Catholic education.

Catholic educators should urge Congress and the Trump administration to restore the definitions of “sex,” “male,” and “female” to agree with biological reality, not “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.” This begins with revoking President Biden’s Executive Order 13988 (“Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation”), Executive Order 14020 (establishing the Gender Policy Council), and any other “dear colleague” letter, administrative rule, executive order, or regulation that attempts to redefine “sex.”

Most importantly for Catholic schools and colleges, the new Administration should withdraw and replace the Biden administration’s 2024 regulation (89 FR 33474) imposing gender ideology under Title IX, the portion of the Civil Rights Act that protects girls and women in education. Whatever the Supreme Court’s reason for extending gender ideology to employment decisions, Title IX was clearly intended to protect girls in athletics, restrooms, locker rooms, admissions, etc., and it allows for many appropriate practices separating males from females.

Congress should go further by amending Title IX and other civil rights laws to clarify the meaning of sex discrimination, including Title VII to nullify the Bostock ruling.

2. Protect religious exemptions: Catholic educators should insist that Congress and the Trump administration defend and expand legal exemptions to federal civil rights laws for religious education when the laws interfere with legitimate religious purposes and practices. This protects Catholic schools and colleges, even when a future administration attempts to distort the laws’ application.

In particular, the Administration should oppose attempts by activists to undermine or repeal the Title IX exemption for religious schools and colleges. It should also end the Education Department’s policy of approving or denying advance determinations whether religious institutions qualify for religious exemptions to Title IX; this is a matter for the courts and should be decided according to each particular circumstance. The Trump administration should delete the archived list of institutions that the Obama administration published in 2016 to “shame” religious colleges claiming the exemption.

3. Preserve the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA): Despite near-unanimous, bipartisan support when RFRA became law in 1993, abortion and gender ideology activists have sought to undermine or repeal it to force their radical agendas on churches and religious organizations. RFRA prevents a law from restricting religious freedom unless there is no less restrictive means of achieving its purpose. It has been a powerful defense for Catholic education. The Trump administration and Congress should fight any legislation that includes exceptions to RFRA protections.

4. Halt discrimination against religion: The Trump administration and Congress should act to ban federal and state discrimination against religious believers and religious organizations—including Catholic education—on the basis of religious beliefs or moral convictions about abortion, contraception, gender, in vitro fertilization, marriage, sexual orientation, or sexual relations. Catholic education should have equal access to public funds available to secular education.

5. End immoral insurance mandates: The Biden administration’s abuse of the Affordable Care Act to force its radical pro-abortion and LGBT agenda on Americans, even to the point of requiring Catholic education to violate moral principles, must be ended. During the 2024 campaign, President Trump indicated support for insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization, which is unacceptable to faithful Catholic schools and colleges.

By executive order and regulation, the Trump administration should oppose and reverse dictatorial mandates for health insurance coverage for non-essential, harmful, and immoral services including abortion, contraception, “gender-transition” hormones and surgery, in vitro fertilization, and sterilization.

This includes rescinding and replace the Biden administration’s 2024 regulation (89 FR 37522) implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which interprets sex discrimination to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” and thereby mandates coverage for “gender-affirming care,” which may include “gender-transition” hormones and surgery.

Congress should amend Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, ensuring that religious believers and organizations—including Catholic education—can opt out of health insurance coverage for services that violate deeply held religious and moral beliefs, such as abortion, contraception, “gender-transition” hormones and surgery, in vitro fertilization, and sterilization.

6. Eliminate the U.S. Department of Education: In its short lifespan since 1976, the Education Department has presided over the decline of American education, impacting many Catholic families in public schools and reinforcing a near-monopoly of taxpayer-funded secular education. At minimum, the Trump administration and Congress should convert federal funds to block grants allowing flexibility and school choice programs in the states. They should also end the Department’s interference with teacher training programs, accreditation, education standards, and testing.

7. Fund school choice: The Trump administration and Congress should incentivize states to adopt school choice policies and funding—such as education savings accounts, tax credits, and vouchers—to help children attend the school or homeschool of their parent’s choice, including Catholic education. They should establish universal savings plans to increase savings limits and allow spending for elementary and secondary education expenses, including homeschooling, in addition to higher education—and ensure that families have equal access to funds for Catholic education. Congress should also increase tax credits for education expenses including homeschooling, increase the federal child tax credit, and increase the child’s age limit to 17.

8. Reform accreditation: The Trump administration and Congress should amend the Higher Education Act to stop requiring accreditation of colleges to receive Title IV student aid, end the Education Department’s approval of accrediting agencies, exempt religious education from accreditation standards and criteria that would compromise an institution’s religious beliefs and governance, ensure that Title IV student aid is not considered federal support that triggers Title IX enforcement, and allow a private right of action against an accreditor by a college that is unjustly discriminated against in the course of accreditation.

9. Strengthen the federal courts: Appoint federal judges with clear records of conformity with the First Amendment, ministerial exception, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and natural law principles of conscience and religious freedom. The U.S. Supreme Court has been a bulwark against violations of religious freedom, but the Biden administration appointed hundreds of federal judges, and Catholic education is likely to face difficulties in many federal courts. Protecting the Supreme Court and strengthening other federal courts must be a top priority for the Trump administration.

10. Strengthen federal independent agencies: The Trump administration should appoint commissioners to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who respect religious freedom and will not misinterpret sex discrimination to include “sexual orientation” and “gender ideology.” Also appoint commissioners to the National Labor Relations Board who respect religious freedom and will uphold the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago (1979), which forbade the NLRB from interfering in labor organizing at religious schools and colleges as a violation of the First Amendment.

Assault on Civil Rights

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans unjust discrimination based on religion, race, color, or national origin in public accommodations (Title II), state and municipal facilities (Title III), public education (Title IV), federally funded programs (Title VI), and employment (Title VII).

Only Title VII, regarding employment, also includes a ban on sex discrimination. In 1972, Congress passed Title IX of the Education Amendments to ban sex discrimination in federally funded schools and colleges. These laws were clearly intended to protect especially women and girls from unjust discrimination.

Today, however, activists for abortion and gender ideology seek to redefine “sex” to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” and to add these categories to all the civil rights laws. This would effectively force gender ideology on Catholic education because only Title VII and Title IX include exemptions for religious organizations. While no Catholic school or college would wish the freedom to discriminate unjustly, they must be able to uphold Catholic teaching on abortion, contraception, sexuality, gender, and marriage—a right protected by the First Amendment.